Ear Hematoma

[JPerrelli]

When Heather and I were on our weekly trip to Bass Pro Shop, we took the dogs outside for a break. I was rubbing Murphy's ear and found a lump and swelling of his ear. We both thought he probably got bit by something and some benedryl would help. It's not easy for me to get off work, so I thought it best to run him to emergency just to make sure.
Turns out he has a hematoma and will need surgery. The vet said it can be caused by shaking his head or maybe he crashed into something (could be while chasing the cat). I've never heard of this and am wondering if anybody else has had this happen? I looked it up on the computer and I read exactly what the vet told me. They're faxing everything to my vet and I'll need to call tomorrow to see what to do next.

 

[Pipelineozzy]

Yes...I've had a newf with an aural hematoma. She stuck her head in the incinerator to try to steal garbage and the lid came down on her ear.
Hers was quite large..it was like she had a sausage in her ear flap.
Unless it's quite small..surgery is the treatment of choice. The hematoma will be opened the full length and allowed to drain, and in most cases..the ear will then be "quilted"
leaving the incision basically open so that the hematoma does not form again, it must be able to drain as it heals..and to heal from the outer edges towards the incision.
Chaos was VERY painful after her surgery, make sure you have good pain meds. Also make sure they show you how to rebandage if you need to..and the instant the bandage was off..she was up to head shaking and SCREAMING with pain. She also had a reaction to the suture...and that didn't help.
Because I worked at the clinic at the time, and had assisted with the surgery several times..I was present for her surgery also. It's not a LONG surgery, but it's quite extensive if the hematoma is large. I was surprised at how much pain she had after, and that wasnt something that anyone had mentioned to me before with their dogs..so may have been some reaction to the suture material early on. But..if I ever had to do it over..I would not leave the clinic without PAIN MANAGEMENT for SURE.
She healed well. A few months down the road, you could not even feel the difference in her ears..but I didn't delay surgery for any length of time and I didnt allow anyone to just try to drain it, which usually makes it very complicated and introduces infection.

 

[DAWNMERIE]

Went through this with 2 other dogs and my brother went through it with his. Same as Cindy says.

 

[heather pluciennik]

I looked online and didn't see anymore info than what you told me on the phone. Not a thing I'd wish on any dog. That could be why he was panting and hot. Morgan was a little but not as bad as Murphy. Hope he's feeling better on his meds.
Come over sometime after things settle down and I'll let you know if we hear about any other houses in the area. You do need to come by some weekend. Later Janet.

 

[TerriW]

Had this happen to one of mine twice. Caused by shaking his head violently with an ear infection - must have hit a wall. He did not appear to be in any pain afterwards either time. Am sure we had pain meds.

 

[Blacknewfs]

Zoe had a large hematoma on her ear. Much as Cindy described, we did surgery and they did a quilt style stitch in her ear to prevent recurrence.

 

[Pipelineozzy]

A lot of the dogs we saw did it just from violent headshaking with ear infections. I wondered if her extreme pain was because of the suture allergy..nobody had ever called back about pain after this surgery, but yowzers..she was REALLY painful, to the point that I drove back to the clinic late at night to get meds for her so she could sleep. As it turned out..it was a good thing really that she had that suture reaction, because several months later she had a pyometra and was spayed, and we knew better than to use that particular material on her. If it had been on internal sutures, or even abdominal..it would have been much more serious. As it was, the ear sutures leaked pus and were a bit red, so she had to go on antibiotics until it was healed enough to remove the sutures. Once they were out..it was clear sailing. Of all the surgeries I assisted at, which included cruciates..this was the only one that really made me queasy for some reason. Maybe because I hated having my own ears pierced!

 

[Sheila B.]

Same as above. Blizzard had chronic ear infections and during the process of dealing with her allergies and cleaning her ears, I found the "lump." I had no idea surgery would be the treatment of choice. I really thought it would be something simple, like antibiotics or anything but surgery. She healed well but I panicked every time she started messing with her ears again. Finally, we found a diet that agreed with her (Wellness Fish & Sweet Potato) and along with frequent ear washes she never had the problem again. She lived until she was 11 yrs. Never in a million years would I have thought the head shaking would result in surgery.

 

[JPerrelli]

I know, I can't believe he needs surgery. He doesn't have an ear infection which surprised the vet. She said that's why they usually shake their head so hard. But his ears are nice and clean, no infection.
How long was the healing process? If I take a day or two off work after his surgery will he be ok to be left alone?